Daryoush Farrokh Tavana

D.F. “Danny” Tavana, of El Paso, Texas, passed away with family by his side on Wednesday, March 25, 2020. He succumbed to injuries he sustained in a car accident on Monday on U. S. Highway 54. Danny is known by many in Northeast El Paso as the long-time proprietor of LaundroNeat on Hercules Avenue.

Danny was born May 6, 1937 to Yousef and Aghdas Tavana. He was a fiercely proud American who came to this country in March of 1958 on the Queen Mary through the Port of New York. He went to the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and then to Bradley University and started a family in Peoria, Illinois.

He is survived by his three children, Sharon (Shariq Ahmed) and Karen both of Allen, Texas, and John, of Arlington, Virginia; three grandchildren he loved dearly, Sarah and Joe Tavana and Sofia Ahmed; his brother David (H.F.) Tavana of El Paso, Texas; and, sister Sima Tavana of Naperville, Illinois. He was preceded in death by his parents.

In Peoria, Danny worked for Baker Shoes, Charles Bruning Company, and Addressograph-Multigraph Corporation. In 1969, he took his young family overseas where he worked with his family in the manufacturing of radio and television equipment and owned a small retail business with his best friend. In the late 1970’s, he returned to the U.S. and settled in El Paso.

Throughout his life, Danny’s kindness and generosity of spirit attracted friendships with all kinds of people and the relationships he developed at his family laundromat on Hercules Avenue epitomize this. The customers became acquaintances became friends—sometimes for more than one generation. He worked long hours and charged low prices to make an essential service accessible for as many hardworking people as possible. He spoke of them like they were his family and he meant it.

Danny was a loving, talented, intelligent, clever, hardworking, honorable, good and decent man all of his life. He will be deeply missed. Remember him by helping someone else.